Help - aiptasia anemones and starfish

I have aipasata anemones. It stung my starfish and it is hurt. All of the aipasata are on a small piece of rock. I will be going on vacation and do not know what to do. can I just take it out with some of the water that is in my tank and put it in a small bucket.

 

I'd remove that small piece of rock with all the aiptasia on it and leave the starfish in the tank. The starfish will likely be fine since it can move away from the aiptasia if being stung.

 

+1

Get rid of the rock with aiptasia. If you're going away, you could come back to a 'plague'. If you want to keep the rock - boil some RO water and put the rock in the water for about 30 seconds. The massive pH difference and temp should kill it.

I'm sure the starfish will be fine too. I'm sure they've been stung in the wild, and survive

 

ok thanks guys. also do you think I can move the damsel and the rock to a 5 gallon while I am gone.

 

Damsel ??? what damsel?

Why do you need/want to move the damsel?

How long are going to be gone?

Who is looking after the tank while you are away?

Depending on who's looking after it, their experience, and how long you'll be away, it could influence what you should do?

 

Also I know first hand that peppermint shrimp will take care of your aptasia problem. I had a outbreak and invested in a few of them and they ate em. Also end up being good cleaners after the aptasia is gone.

 

I will be gone for a week. my family will be watching and I will tell them what they need to know. it is a blue damsel.

My starfish is tearing off its legs and looks seriusly injured what should I do.

I think it could die if I leave it.

 

Can you post your water parameters and a pic of the starfish. Those will help. Also update your aquarium info so it makes it easier for those helping you without having to ask the basic questions.

 

Oh, sorry about the starfish, I haven't had any experience with them, so I don't have any advice to give.

I'm still trying to understand why you want to move the damsel though?

You could put the rock in the 5G, but unless there's a good reason to move the damsel, I wouldn't.

 

ok my vacation is over thanks for the replies

 

and how is the starfish...?

 

it died be for I left.

 

if I did boil the live rock will it kill the micro organisms on it

 

While it will probably will kill the beneficial bacteria it will come back after a bit because of the other live rock. However like I stated before peppermint shrimp will take care of them as well. I know this from first hand experience.

 

if I did boil the live rock will it kill the micro organisms on it

It will most certainly kill everything on the LR - not much can survive above 60C [140F] let alone at boiling temperature.

If you're looking at ways to remove the aiptasia, aside from pep's, you can also try squirting boiling water directly on the aiptasia. The temperature and pH shock often kills it. You can also try solutions of white vinegar squirted directly on them, and even kalk solutions directly on it. (squirt directly into its mouth, and be careful not to sting yourself )

The limitation with these approachs (target killing) is that you only get what you can see. The advantage of peppermints is that they will scour your tank and find them all, eat them, and problem solved. I haven't seen any evidence of aiptaisia in my tank since introducing the pep's. Doesn't mean there isn't any in there, just indicates that the pep's are finding them all and taking care of it.

If you want to get pep's, make sure you get the right species. L. vittata (common in Australia) and L. wurdemannI (common in US) are known to eat aiptaisia, but can sometimes leave larger specimens alone (too big to tackle)

 

can someone close this thread